Flourish is the name of the game for Growing Places, the first of the annual food and farm art extravaganza benefitting San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project (Roots). Roots is a non-profit organization of volunteers eagerly and excitedly seeking a more connected and honest food system in San Diego.  

Growing Places, on Saturday, August 1, 2009, is both a celebration of the agricultural abundance and potential of our region and a call to action on behalf of people in the community to all people living in San Diego County and beyond: know your food, know the people who grow it, and where it grows, and have fun with it!

Growing Places will also feature a loungy food and art reading room, art+response projects, art installations featuring issues about food and water, a raffle of prizes from San Diego’s top business that encourage the local arts and local food currents, 100% local treats, and local craft beer.

Food-and-farm themed art in all styles and media, made especially for Growing Places by residents of San Diego County, will be showcased in a silent auction to raise money for Roots’ farmland project and future education center. From 7:30 pm into the night, three local San Diego bands will play live original music: Unum, Old Man Hands, Skavolutionary Orchestra.

Folks can get in for an easy $10, or less if you bring organic vegetable plants or non-perishables for the donation station, to be donated to Victory Gardens SD and SD Food Bank. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased for only $7  at The Linkery, 3794 30th St 92104, North Park’s restaurant-hero of local food, and City Farmers Nursery, 4832 Home Ave 92105, the homegrown and delightful urban farm and organic garden center.

Growing Places starts at 3pm on the fourth floor of Front Place, a business building located at 1446 Front Street (92101). This event came together because of an increasing rally for a sensible and enjoyable food system and many hands doing the work of creating it.